Electric-impulse time instrument



Aug. s, 1937.

S. M. KENERSON ELECTRIC IMPULSE TIME INSTRUMENT Filed Jan. 7, 1935 vse f77 3f sa 78 3* 2 Sheets-Sheet l Mik/M -Amfmfrsllg. 3, 1937 s. M. KENERsoN 2,088,794

ELECTRIC IMPULSE TIME INSTRUMENT Filed Jan. '7, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 3,1931

ELECTRIC-IMPULSE TIME INSTRUMENT Stanley Marsh lienerson, Springfield, Mass., assgnor to The Standard Electric lime Com- .f pour, Snrinrii eid, Mass., a corporation Application January 7, 1935, Serial No. 690

' 1 claims.' (ci. ss--zm This invention relates to improvements in electric-impulse time instruments.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved impulse clock having more silent -operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide any impulse clock having an improved construe` tion for more qnickly and more precisely performing the resetting operation of the clock.

y Another object of this invention is to provide an improved impulse clockformed of simple elements readily manufactured and readily assembled to produce an attractive, durable, eiiicientdevice at minimum cost. y l5 With the above and other objects in view, this invention includes all improvements over the prior art which are disclosed in this application.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one way of carrying out the invention is shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of an impulse-clock movement made in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2-2 Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 2-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig.- 4 is an edge elevation oi i'z'he-rnoven'ientl from the right of Fig. i;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional vview on the line l s-sof Fig. 3;

6 is an enlarged iragmental view of the lower portion oi Fig. 4, with the clutch-elements.

in unclutched position;

Fig. 'I is an enlarged sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view oi the upper portion or Fig. 1, with the rear movement-plate eliminated,.but illustrating the positional relation` of certain elements which are actually mounted on the rear of the rear movement-plate.

The present embodimentv discloses improvements upon the impulse clock disclosed in my patent,No.i1v,957,543, granted May', 1934.

In the description and claims, the various parts are identified by specific names-for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the' prior art will permit.

Referring to the drawings. front and rear movement-plates Il and 'Il are secured together in spaced relation by two upper pillars I2 -and two lower pillars i3. Eachpillar consists of a spacing-element Hand two screws Il for clanip. ingthe movement-plates" .and I l against the An hour-sleeve I6 is journalled for rotation in a hole I1 in the recessed gear-housing portion i8 of the iront movement-plate I0. A minutearbor or shaft I9 is journalled at the front end .in the hour-sleeve I6 and in the hole 2li in the 5 rear movement-plate Il. 'I'he minute-arbor I9, which ordinarily carries a minute-hand, has driving relation with. the hour-sleeve i8, whichordinarily carries the hour-hand, by means of any suitable reduction-gearing which causes the hourl0 sleeve to rotate at one-twelfth the speed of the minute-arbor. Such reduction-gearing may include gears such as 2| and 22. f

A clutch-element23 and a weighted arm 24 are -Y iixedly secured upon the minute-shaft I9 in any 15 suitable way. lIn the construction illustrated in the drawings, the weighted arm 24 consists of a weight 25 secured bya screw -28 engaging in .'a threaded holein alug or arm 21 integral with a washer-like portion 28. The clutch-element 22 and weighted arm 24 are iixedly secured to the minute-shaitil in any desired way. In the drawings, these parts are shown ilxed to ythe minute-shaft I9 bymeans of a pin 29, which forces the concave washer 3l vheavily against the 25 washer-portion, which latter forces the hub 3i ot the clutch-element 23 heavily against the enlarged integral portion 22 of the minute-shaft I9, to' thus frictionally but rmly secure the parts described, together. One end of the pin 29,A it '30 will be noted, engagesbetween spaced-apart upstruck lug-portions 23 of the washer 2I.

.A second clutch-element il is mounted for free rotation uponthe enlarged portion l2 of the minute-shaft,l and has an annular groove 25 in 35 its hub ,in which groove ride the opposite fingers Il of aclutch-arm or fork Il having oppositely-extending pivot-portions 39 freely journalled inapertures Il of the lower spacing-ele` ments il. An lextension 4I o! the clutch-fork is 40 engaged by a leaf-spring l2 to normally urge the clutch-teeth Il o! clutch-element 2l into engagementwith the clutch-teeth of clutch-element 2l.-

In the form of the invention illustrated in the 45 drawings, the clutch-element Il has ratchetteeth 4l' formed around its'periphery. thus constituting the member 24 a combined clutch-element and ratchet-wheel. A pawl-shaftor arbor is mounted at 'its opposite ends on the cone- 5g bearings 4l andlll. One ofl these cone-bearings l1 is formed on a screw u, which threadedly en' gages in iront movement-platey I0 and is heldlocked thereto'by lock-nut Il. lThe other coney VII-isfcan'ledby a leaf-spring Ii 55 by screws 52 to the rear movement-plate I I. The hub 83 is secured in any suitable way as by screws I4, to the pawl-shaft 48, and in turn has secured to itself an arm 55 extending' in opposite direc- 5 tions from the pawl-shatt. The arm 55 has fixed thereto studs 58 and 51, which respectively pivot'- ally carry a pair of pawl-arms or pawls 58 and 59, the pawl-ends 88 and 8| of which are adapted to engage the ratchet-teeth 45 of the ratchet-wheel.

Fixedly secured to the pawl-shaft 48 is a limitarm 82 having linut-portions 83 and 84 at its opposite ends, adapted to respectively engage sounddeadenlhg elements or washers 65 and 65, secured on the rear oi' the rear movement-plate ll by means of screws 61 and 88. The sound-deadening elements 85 andv 86 may be of any suitable soft material such, for example, as rubber, and are preferably formed with the screw-receiving hole eccentrically therein, as illustrated, so that by rotating the members 65 and 66 before tightening the screws, the sound-deadening elements can each be adjusted to stop the limit-portions 83 and 84 of the limit-arm 82 at desired adjusted positions. "This permits of having the pawls 58 and 58 accurately move the minute-arbor, so that the minute-hand, ordinarily carried thereon, will accurately stop at the minute indications upon the clock (not shown). The spring 69 normally yieldably holds the limit-portion 64 inengagement with the limit-washer 88.

Also xedly secured on the pawl-shaft 48 is an amature 18 having oppositely-extending portions 1| and 12 respectively in position to be attracted by the oil'set magnetic poles '13 and 14 of an 85 electromagnet 15, which latter is secured to the inside of the rear movement-plate y 18, as shown.

A pair of elcctromagnets 11 and 18 are secured to the inside lower part of the rear movement- 4o plate II in any suitable way, as by screws 19 and 88. The electromagnets 11 and 18 have polepieces 8l, 82 and 83, 84 (Fig. 2). The adjacent Dole-pieces 8| and 83 have their upper ends V- shaped at 85 and 86 and adjacent each other and adjacent the downwardly-pointing V-shaped nose 81 of the weight 25 of the weighted arm 24.

The clutch-fork or lever 38 has downwardlydepending extensions 88 to which is secured in any suitable way, an. armature 89 which extends across from pole-piece 82 of electromagnet 11 to the pole-piece 84 of electromagnet 18. The armature 88 may be provided with projections 90 oi non-magnetic material to prevent sticking of the armature 89 to thepoles of the magnet.' The four feet or pads 9i t in the sockets 92 of the front movement-plate and serve to cushion the pressure oi' the front movement-plate against the inside of the clock, to which itmay be secured by screws passing through the feet 8| which are 50 preferably of soft material such, for example, as rubber.

When electric impulses are transmitted to the electromagnet 15 once per minute, as is usual in l l by screws impulse or secondary clocks of the nature herein 55 disclosed, the poles 13 and 14 pull the armatureportions 1I and 12 toward themselves and consequently cause the pawl 58 to be pushed down'- ward in feeding movement to push on one of the pawl-teeth 45 to rotate the combined. ratchet- 7o wheel and clutch-element 84 a distance corresponding to approximately one-half the distance .between two successive'ratchet-teeth, while the paw] 88 is moved upward in idling direction, whereupon the limit-portion 83 of the limit-mem- 75 ber 02 (los. 1) ensues against the soft .limitwasher 85. 'Upon the electric circuit of electromagnet 15 becoming broken, the spring 69, pressing on the limit-portion 84 of the limit-bar 52, returns tbe limit-portion 64 to its normal position in engagement with the soft washer 86, and therefore rotates the pawl-shaft 48 back to its normal original position. In this reverse rotation under the influence oi spring 69, the pawl 58 is moved upward in idling direction, while the pawl 59 is pushed downwardly and forwardly against a ratchet-tooth to partly rotate the ratchet-wheel a distance corresponding to the remainder of the distance between two successive ratchetteeth. This oscillating action of the pawls takes place once each minute, to feed the ratchet-wheell a distance corresponding to the distance between two successive ratchet-teeth. Each time the ratchet-wheel is moved forward a notch, the weighted arm 24 is made to travel a corresponding distance up away from its lowermost position until it passes the top point of its rotation, whereupon it travels downward in the direction toward its original position.

In traveling downward toward its original position, the weighted arm 24 tends to rotate the .ratchet-wheel 34 ahead of the pawls, which action if it were permitted to occur, would nullify the proper timekeeping characteristics of the clock. To prevent this happening, two limitscrews 83 and 94 screw-threadedly engage the rear of the front movement-plate lil and carry eccentric bushings 95 and 98. By shifting these two bushings to suitably adjusted positions, and tightening the screws 93 and 94 to hold the bushings in desired positions of adjustment, the pawls 58 and 59 will be permitted their normal free movements in opposite endwlse directions, for feeding the ratchet-wheel in its rotational direction, 4but will prevent the pawls 58 and 59 from being swung outwardly away from the ratchetteeth by any rotational action, ,such as by the weight 25 tending to rotate the ratchet-wheel 34 ahead of the pawls,

At suitable intervals, such for example, as once an hour, say on the fifty-ninth minute of the hour, an electric impulse is sent from the master clock to the electromagnets 11 and 18, for the purpose oi insuring that the clock is` reset to accurate time. When this resetting impulse is sent through the electromagnets 11 and 18, the

latter perform two operations. They attract the.

armature 89 to thus swing the clutch-fork 38 on its pivots 89 to slide the clutch-element and ratchet-wheel 34 longitudinally oi' the minutearbor i9, and against the action of the spring 42 to unclutch the two clutch-members or elements,

as illustrated in Fig. 6. In this unclutched position, which is held i'or a suitable interval oi' time, the weighted arm 24 is free to rotate and swing to its lowermost position, to which itis accurately and forcibly brought by the V-shaped magnetic poles 88 and 88 acting upon the corresponding v-shaped portion 81 of the weight 25 oi' the weighted arm 24, thus also rotating and accu-V rately resetting the minute-arbor and minutehand (not shown).

Upon breaking oi' the electric circuit of the electromagnets 11 and 18, the spring 42 forces the clutch-fork toswing the clutch-element 34 to bring its clutch-teeth into engagement with the corresponding clutch-teeth on the clutch-ele- 5 clock. 'It will further be observed that the armae ture 1B does not at all contact with the poles 13 vand 14 of the electromagnet 15, nor with anyv other metal part in any of its movements, the

' limitoi the amature 10 and the pawl-shaft l being controlled by the soft, sound-deadening disks or bushings 65 and 68. While the parts of the device may be of various materials, the pawls 58 and 549 and the clutch-members 23 and 34 are preferably made of molded composition such, for example, as bakeiite,

The invention may be carried out in other spe'- ciiic ways than that herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the presentlembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended tolbe embraced therein.

I claim: I

1. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: a rotatable time-shaft; a rlrst clutch-element ilxediy secured to said timeshaft; a weighted arm fixediy secured torst clutch-element; a second clutch-element Vadapted'to be clutched to and unclutched from said first clutch-element by means of interengaging teeth on said clutch-elements, and adapted when unclutched to be rotatable relatively to said timeshaft and said first clutch-element; ratchetwheel means having a number of ratchet-teeth corresponding to thenumber of teeth on each clutch-element and rotatable with said second clutch-element; pawl-means adapted to rotate said ratchet-wheel means by a step-by-step movement and adapted to prevent rotation there- L of except by feeding movement of said pawlmeans; means normally holding said clutch-elements clutched together; and means for unclutching said clutch-elements to permit said weighted arm to rotate to iowermost position and rotate said time-shaft to a corresponding position.

2. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: a rotatable time-shaft; a4

liirst clutch-element ilxedly secured to said timeshaft; a weighted arm nxedly secured to first clutch-element; a second clutch-element adapted to be clutched to and unclutched from said first '55 clutch-element, and adapted when unclutched to be rotatable relatively to said time-shaft and said first clutch-element; ratchet-wheel means v rotatable with said second clutch-element and adapted to be rotated by a step-by-stepvmovement; means normally holding said clutch-elements clutched together; electromagnetic-means for unclutching said clutch-elements to permit said weighted arm to rotate toy iowermost position and rotate` said time-shaft to a corresponding position; and electromagnetic-means adapted to urge saidweighted arm to rest at its iowermost position.

3. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: a rotatable time-shaft; a

v first clutch-element ilsediy securedy to said timeshaft; a weighted arm nxediy secured to am clutch-element; a second clutch-element adapted to be clutched to and unclutched from said first clutch-element, and adapted when unclutched to A,75 be rotatable relatively to said time-shaft and said rst clutch-element; ratchet-wheel means rotatable with said second clutch-element and adapted to be rotated by a step-by-step movenient; means normally holding said clutch-elements clutched togeth means for unclutching said clutch-elements to permit said weighted arm to rotate to iowermost position and rotate said time-shaft to a corresponding position; and a pair of electromagnets having a pair of poles adapted to urge said weighted arm to rest at its lowermost position.

4. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: a rotatable time-shaft; a

first clutch-element ilxedly secured to said timeshaft;a weighted, arm ilxedly secured to first yclutch-element; a second clutch-element adapted to beclutched to and unclutched from said first clutch-element, and adapted when unclutched to 'be rotatable relatively to said time-shaft and said first clutch-element; ratchet-wheel means rotatable with said second clutch-element and adapted to be rotated by a step-by-step movement; means normally holding said ciutch-ele-l ments clutched together; electromagnetic-means for unclutching said clutch-elements to permit said weighted arm to rotate to iowermost position and rotatesaid time-shaft to a corresponding position; and a pair of electromagnets having av pair of adjacent y-shaped poles adapted to urge said weighted arm-to rest at its iowermost position, the portion of said weighted arm adjacent said poles also being V-shaped.

5. An electric-impulse time instrument con-` struction including: front and rear movementpiates secured together; the front movementplate being adapted to be secured to a support; a time-shaft rotatably mounted in said movement-plates; ratchet-wheel means' between` said movement-plates `and. mounted on and adapted to rotate said time-shaft; oscillatable means including an oscillatable pawl-shaft, and pawls pivotally connected to the pawl-shaft and located between the movement-plates and adapted to actuate said ratchet-wheel means; and adinstable abutments mounted on the rear face ot the front movement-plate and adapted to be adjusted by access through an opening in the rear movement-plate. f

6. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: front and rear movementy plates secured together; the front movementplate being adapted to be secured to a support;

. a time-shalt rotatably mounted in said movement-plates; ratchet-wheel means between said .movement-plates and mounted on and adapted to rotate said time-shaft; oscillatable means including an oscillatable pawl-shaft, and pawls pivotaliy connected to the pawl-shaft and lo- 'cated between the movement-plates and adapted to actuate said ratchet-wheel means; adjustable abutments mounted on the rear face of the front movement-plate and adapted to be adjusted by access through an opening in the rear movementplate; a limit-armsecured to the pawl-shatt and located at the rear of the rear movement-plate;

and adjustable limit-means mounted on the'rear facevo! the rear movement-plate and adapted to limit the oscillation of the limit-arm and pawlshaft.

7. An electric-impulse time instrument construction including: a rotatableJ time-shaft; ratchet-wheel meansconoentric with and adapted to rotate said time-shaft; an electromagnet having coil-means outside and spaced from an imagina'ry cylinder enclosing said ratchet-wheel means and extending axially thereof, and having L-shape pole-pieces extending from said coilmeans toward said ratchet-wheel means, with the end-portions of said polepieces odset from each other and located outside said imaginary cylinder; an oscillatabie pawi-shaft between said imaginary cylinder and said coil means and between the ends of said pole-pieces; pawl-means connected to said pawl-shaft and adapted to rotate said ratchet-wheel means; and an armature secured to said pawl-shaft and having armatureportions extending oppcsitely from said pawlshaft to locations adjacent corresponding polepieces.

STANLEY MARSH KENERSON. 

